Burglar flees two east Spokane homes

A burglar was tossed out of two different Spokane homes Tuesday morning by two different women.

The home invasions happened not far from each other, above the Northwood subdivision between Argonne and Jensen Roads, and in both cases police say the burglar used a pry bar to break through the front door.

The first home belonged to Audrey Minton, who said she was upstairs and able to make enough noise to scare the intruder off.

“I heard a bump which sounded like our heat going on and I came down a few minutes later and was just kind of looking around," Minton said. "I saw that our door frame was off and that's when I realized someone had tried to get inside our house. I think somebody had come by earlier to see if we were home and them when they saw my husband leave later in the afternoon he figured it was probably a good time to come in and rob our place."

The next home was just a few blocks away. Taryn Pemberton was taking care of her six-month-old daughter upstairs when she heard the front door burst open.

"I got halfway down the stairs and I realized it was not one of the neighbor kids. I went back upstairs, grabbed my gun and locked my bedroom door. I grabbed our daughter and I went into our bathroom." Pemberton said. "Either he heard me rack the gun or lock the door ... and decided this wasn't a friendly environment for him after all."

The burglar is described as a skinny, white male just over six-feet tall.

Police say burglars tend to target homes that look like nobody is home, so it's smart to always leave a light on and a radio or TV playing.